Sit for a While Longer

Sit for a while longer.

Remembering what the Fate Overgod had revealed, there were four vacant Sovereign Sparks. He had refined the Dark Mid-level Sovereign Spark, leaving the Life, Fate, and Lightning Lower Sovereign Sparks. The Life Sovereign Spark would most likely be obtained by the Nether Fruit Tree or Hela, but he had no idea where the Lightning one was.

Hela could naturally sense Lincoln's scan, so she instructed, "Iwina, go out and welcome our guest!"

Iwina acknowledged her and went outside. After all these years, she was used to other Sovereigns visiting her mistress. Before long, she saw a Sovereign in black arrive, flying straight to the mountaintop without regard for the Heaven and Earth Chains.

But when she saw his face, she couldn't help being startled. Wasn't this Lincoln, who had just left? He was a Sovereign, so why had he visited his mistress just now like an ordinary Deity-level expert?

Startled though she was, she quickly composed herself and ushered Lincoln inside.

The Death Chief Sovereign reclined on a tall couch, twirling a lock of red hair around one finger. Looking at Lincoln, who had returned, she said with a cold smile, "Well, little fellow, it's not easy to see your Sovereign clone in the God Realm. Neither Vivian nor I managed to draw you out, yet Orf did."

Lincoln hurried to explain, "You two know the reason. I was worried Augusta might attack me. Lord Orf said outright that he was going to convene a Sovereign Conference. I didn't expect that either."

"Then do you know why Orf is so concerned about you?" Hela's gaze wandered. "You should know that neither Vivian nor I convened a Sovereign Conference to clear your name."

Vivian had also returned to Nether Mountain, but she hadn't expected Lincoln to come back as well. Seeing how casually her eldest sister behaved around him, she pondered the matter.

"Lord Vivian, Lord Hela, I also find it strange. Today, I visited Lord Hela, Lord Orf, and Lord Uterede. I expected only Lord Hela to see me. Lord Orf and Lord Uterede might not even bother with me—and Lord Uterede did indeed refuse to see me."

Lincoln smiled bitterly. "At the time, I felt something was off, so I hurriedly changed the subject. But, my ladies, don't you mind that Orf got the arrow?"

Watching Vivian leave, Hela suddenly asked Lincoln, "Over the countless years, most of the lucky newcomers who became Sovereigns came to visit me hoping to revive family and friends. Do you have no such wish?"

Lincoln fell silent for a moment. Many faces surfaced in his mind, and he sighed. "My lady, we spent hundreds of years traveling together. You know I was the first life in my Material Plane, and the first lives grew up alongside me. But they lacked talent and opportunity. In the brutal Supreme Plane and Divine Plane, every one of them died. And by the time they died, they had all become gods. There was nothing I could do."

Still, from the sound of it, the Life Sovereign and Death Chief Sovereign working together was like a combined divine ability—and they had already developed it. Otherwise, one plus one wouldn't equal two.

He didn't expect to defeat Orf, but he didn't want to fall too far short either.

Hela suddenly smiled. "Clever little fellow. You used a Heaven and Earth Wonder to put Orf's favor and Augusta's harassment behind you. Without that trick, you'd have had to pay dearly. Don't be fooled by Orf's image and think he really is such a good person."

Vivian looked at Hela but said nothing.

The sense of danger weighed on him. For now, the most direct path was to refine other Sovereign Sparks. It was risky, but the rewards were great. He would first choose suitable targets and prepare for both possibilities. If circumstances left him no choice, he would have to risk going after those unlucky Sovereigns!

"But Orf is different. He's interested in the Innate Divine Abilities of every divine beast. He has many other things to study, though, so he rarely seeks out a particular divine beast. He hadn't approached you before, but now that he has, he naturally wants your Quintessence Blood."

"But Lincoln, Orf helped you, and my eldest sister and I have helped you plenty too. How can you play favorites?" Vivian added.

Lincoln fell silent. It was blind confidence born of having incomplete information, but he had no solid reason to point out Orf's true strength—and even if he did, it wouldn't change anything. Until he had a way to deal with that Defensive Supreme Artifact, he didn't want to make an enemy of Orf, openly or behind the scenes.

"He's strong, but he shouldn't be that strong," Vivian blurted out, surprised that Hela had explained so openly. She continued, "In a one-on-one fight, he shouldn't be able to defeat any of us. My eldest sister and I could even beat him if we joined forces."

Hela looked at Lincoln sharply. "If you want to find out how strong we are, you can challenge us and see for yourself!"

"Uterede naturally wouldn't be interested in you," Vivian said softly. "Your Innate Divine Ability is powerful, but it can't let you fight across ranks like the Four Divine Beasts. I heard he recently made new progress in developing his ultimate move and has no time for anyone else. If Orf hadn't called the meeting, he might not have gone at all."

Lincoln smiled bitterly again. "My lady, you know I've only recently become a Sovereign. I even had to borrow a Sovereign Artifact from you. I'm completely broke right now—I have nothing valuable to offer."

Lincoln suddenly understood. It was easy to be blind to things when you were caught up in them. Apart from Aier, nobody had ever coveted him before, so the thought had never crossed his mind. Then he suddenly thought of what had happened to the Four Divine Beasts, and a chill ran through him. Orf was vile!

Following up on Vivian's words, he probed, "My lady, I've heard the Four Rule Sovereigns are evenly matched, but from what you just said, Lord Uterede values Lord Orf more?" The implication was obvious, but he never quite said it outright. At this point, their relative strength mattered greatly to Lincoln. They were important allies, after all.

"A Heaven and Earth Wonder is still just a Heaven and Earth Wonder. Even if Orf nurtures that arrow into a new Sovereign Artifact and makes its attack ten times stronger, it still won't compare to an attack Supreme Artifact," Hela explained. "But don't let him grow stronger still. He may not have an attack Supreme Artifact, but he has one more share of Willpower than we do, and a body on the level of a Sovereign Artifact. Apart from his attacks being ten times weaker than ours, he surpasses us in every other respect. And Orf is a research fanatic. After all these years, he may well have made up for his lack of attack power. He may already have pulled ahead of the four of us."

Saint-level experts and those below them became undead in the Underworld after death—but only if their souls hadn't been taken by a powerful expert as materials.

Lincoln quickly waved both hands and shook his head. He wasn't eager to die, and he would never deliver a Sovereign Spark right to someone's door.

Lincoln had some suspicions, but he couldn't be sure whether they were right.

"Enough, enough. I won't make things difficult for you," Vivian said with a smile as she rose. "But don't forget us when you get something good in the future. Eldest Sister, I won't stay any longer. I'll head back first."

Remembering the past left Lincoln feeling a little down, so he took his leave of Hela as well. He didn't mention the Nether Fruit either. If the Nether Fruit could help someone quickly become an Asura, word of it would have spread throughout the God Realm long ago.

Hela hesitated for a moment and didn't accept Lincoln's farewell. Gazing into the distance, she said, "Sit for a while longer, little fellow."

Lincoln didn't think much of it. He stayed seated for another quarter of an hour before rising to leave.